Fallbrook information please (Sacramento, Vista: to rent, house, neighborhood)

[dweej]

Make sure to look into Carlsbad, too! Great schools, close to the beach, easy commute up the 5 to Pendleton (most traffic in the morning goes south, and north in the evening).

[htnspz]

We bought in the Shadowridge area of Vista located near the Shadowridge golf course. It's really beautiful and well maintained. San Marcos does have some nice areas but I couldn't afford to buy in the really nice areas. Nice areas include the San Elijo hills area. Do a search here and you should see some posts on where the nice parts are. The drive to San Marcos is a little longer and has a little more traffic to Camp Pendleton. Also it does get a little warm there.

Definitely check out Carlsbad like I said before and for sure take a look at the Shadowridge area of Vista. It really has the whole package! Ultimately, I liked it better than San Marcos and my husband's commute to camp pendleton is less than it would be there. The climate should be a little more mild than San Marcos also. I would take a drive to all three of them and find what you're looking for.

Are you going to buying or renting?

[Fallbrook]

Move to Fallbrook but choose a place within the Bonsall school district which is on par with some of the best schools in the county. See Bonsall Union School District | District Boundary Map (http://bonsall.schoolwires.com/151210928182456153/site/default.asp?1512Nav=|&NodeID=103 - broken link)

[sfw1979]

Originally Posted by Fallbrook

Move to Fallbrook but choose a place within the Bonsall school district which is on par with some of the best schools in the county. See Bonsall Union School District | District Boundary Map (http://bonsall.schoolwires.com/151210928182456153/site/default.asp?1512Nav=|&NodeID=103 - broken link)

Thanks for the info. I think we have decided on San Marcos. The schools seems a bit better than Fallbrook and real estate is pretty good as well.

[Jim Zinca]

Hey guys Anyone with some advice for young married couple? We don't want to live on the base. No kids.

[moved]

Answer these questions, and you'll get some help.

Do you want to rent or buy? What's your budget? What type of neighborhood do you want to live in? House or apartment, amenities, and anything else you can throw in. Any pets?

[bouncethelight]

Originally Posted by clutternize

I would chose Fallbrook over O'Side in a red-hot second.
But they are very different. Fallbrook has the small town scenery with lots of trees and rolling hills. Nice little browsing shops and restaurants.

Originally Posted by clutternize

O'Side has the beach and more consumer conveniences.

Depends on what you want.

Best advice in this thread! You can't really compare Fallbrook and Oceanside because they are so different - if you want chain stores, and traffic, and the beach, then Oceanside! If you want 4H and oak trees and little winding roads and a night-time Christmas parade that EVERY kid in town participates in, then pick Fallbrook! Both are great places - but very very different.

I've lived in both, and loved them both! But for me, Fallbrook was a better fit.

Originally Posted by clutternize

It also floods during the rainy season.

Okay, now you lost me? Floods in the rainy season? Maybe it flooded somewhere once, and that's what you're referring to, but as a general occurrence? No, Fallbrook is not known for flooding...

[sdhkshdcny09]

You definitely get the best bang-for-your-buck in San Marcos. The school district performs at levels comparable to the much more affluent areas of Carlsbad, Poway, and Encinitas.
The only questionable schools are San Marcos Elementary, Alvin Dunn, and San Marcos Middle. But they are in the poorest sections of town so you probably wont live within the boundaries.
There are also plenty of affordable houses (relative to CA and SD).

Best Neighborhoods in San Marcos/best schools:
San Elijo Hills
Discovery Hills
Lake San Marcos
Carrillo Ranch
La Costa (more expensive)
Santa Fe Hills
- generally speaking, the best schools and their boundaries are south of Palomar Airport Road/ San Marcos Boulevard.
Exceptions:
-Knob Hill, which is north of the 78 freeway and in the eastern section of SM is a great school. It has won 2 distinguished school awards, two Title I academic achievement awards, and a national Blue ribbon award in the last few years. Homes in this neighborhood are VERY affordable.
2. Paloma Elementary in Santa Fe hills and 3. Richland Elementary are also good schools north of San Marcos Boulevard

Worst Neighborhoods in San Marcos:
- Richmar neighborhood along Mission Road near San Marcos Middle.
-pretty much all the neighborhoods between Mission road (turns into south santa fe) and the 78 freeway are not great areas. north of mission is fine except for Richmar.
- also, the neighborhoods along Rancho Santa Fe are not that great between palomar airport road and mission road/south santa fe

[Fallbrook Res]

I agree with dweej. I have lived in Fallbrook for 3 years and will be moving next month. Things I liked in Fallbrook were the beautiful scenery, nice neighbors, properties were priced reasonably. I found people to be pretty friendly here. You can get a lot more house here than you can in Orange County or coastal areas of San Diego. Things I got tired of after awhile (but not at first) driving on Hwy. 76 which became more and more congested, having to drive to Temecula or Escondido to do any type of shopping. But what forced my decision the most to move was the isolation I felt while I lived here and the rising crime rate. home break ins, especially.

[socketz]

San Ellijo Hills in San Marcos is very nice as it butts up against Olivehain and La Costa. The best schools in San Marcos are there. Another area that has great schools is Discovery Hills, which is right near Cal State San Marcos.

Essentially, most of San Marcos South of the 78 is decent and the closer you get to Carlsbad, the better. Shadowridge is a decent area of Vista, but I have no idea as to what the boundaries are. Also, check to see that the Shadowridge schools are not impacted, which cause you to spill into all the other Vista schools - which are marginal at best. Fallbrook is ok as well, but it feels very rural there and there has always been a stigma related to a prominent KKK member that called the place home - not my cup of tea. It's fine though, but as others have said, the schools do not compare to the Poway Unified School District or even the better schools in San Marcos. Note that you can live much further south in say Rancho PQ and the commute to Oceanside is not that bad. But hey, I live in the Bay Area and the good commutes here are 2x the worst commute in San Diego. So I guess it is all relative.